Emporia event encourages youths to get active and play

September 14, 2011

Emporia’s Jones Park will be the site of a Worldwide Day of Play event on Saturday, Sept. 24.

Worldwide Day of Play was created by the Nickelodeon television network eight years ago. Nickelodeon will go completely “dark” for three hours, “turning off programming to encourage kids to get up, get outand go play!” This year, for the first time, First Lady Michelle Obama’s "Let's Move" campaign and the President's Council on Fitness, Sports and Nutrition are bringing the event to Washington, D.C.

In Emporia, Kristin Gilmore, a graduate student in ESU’s Department of Health, Physical Education, and Recreation, is organizing an event from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Jones Park pavilion by the baseball backstops.

The free event will be a field day in which people can come and go. Activities include games for all ages such as washers, Kuub, horseshoes and ladder golf; wellness walks through the park; disc golf and free fishing lessons at the pond. In addition, local instructor Amy Hayden will teach an hour of Zumba beginning at noon.

Every hour will bring drawings for prizes. Participating in the activities increases the chances of winning.

“I want people to have fun, educate themselves from the different vendors and leave the event with a sense of pride that they participated in a nationwide event to promote active, healthy lifestyles,” said Gilmore.

Emporia State University is a dynamic and progressive student-centered learning community that fosters student success through engagement in academic excellence, community and global involvement, and the pursuit of personal and professional fulfillment.